As atmospheric CO 2 continues to increase, more and more CO 2 enters the ocean, which reduces pH (pH is a measure of acidity, the lower the pH, the more acidic the liquid) in a process referred to as ocean acidification. Declines in surface ocean pH due to ocean acidification are already detectable and accelerating.

The present Global Framework for Climate Services (GFCS) with a vision “to enable society to better manage the risks and opportunities arising from climate variability and change, through the development and incorporation of science-based climate information and prediction into planning, policy and practice” carries forward and builds on the solid foundation laid by the Climate Information and Prediction Services (CLIPS) project.

Data repositories and archives play a critical role as the source for the observational data used in the study of weather and climate. After over two centuries of recording observations on paper, observations in the last 20 years have mostly been collected digitally. Creating homogeneous, complete data sets from disparate collections is a fundamental challenge facing the climate research community.

Weather prediction has achieved immense progress, driven by research and increasingly sophisticated telecommunication, information technology and observational infrastructure. Predictive skill now extends in some cases beyond 10 days, with an increasing capability to give early warning of severe weather events many days ahead.

New sources of atmospheric observations, faster supercomputers and advances in science together revolutionized weather forecasting in the latter part of the 20th century. On the global scale, we can today...

Natural hazards involving weather, climate and water are a major source of death, injury and physical destruction. Over the past decade (2005-2014), 3 253 hydrometeorological hazards were reported around the world, resulting in 283 035 deaths and economic losses amounting to US$ 983 million.

WMO ranked 2014 as the hottest year on record. In 2015, the United Nations Member States will adopt three major agreements that relate to the environment. The first, in March, is in the area of disaster risk reduction. The second, in September, will promote sustainable development. The third, in December, aims to limit average global temperature increases and the resultant climate change.

Factoring weather and climate information into agricultural decision-making has optimized agricultural production in many countries. However, in developing countries – where most smallholder farms are rain-fed – access to weather and climate information to guide decision-making is limited. Governments should view such information, crucial to farmers, as a means of alleviating poverty and hunger.